CHARACTERISTICS OF SCHOOL DROPOUTS AND HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES, FARM AND NONFARM, 1960.

COWHIG, JAMES D.

SOCIOECONOMIC FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT OF FARM AND NONFARM YOUTHS WERE ANALYZED. THE 1960 POPULATION CENSUS SUPPLIED THE DATA. A SUMMARY OF RESULTS FOLLOWS--(1) DROPOUT RATES FOR YOUTH 16 TO 17 AND 18 TO 19 YEARS OF AGE WERE LOWEST IN URBAN AREAS AND HIGHEST IN RURAL-NONFARM AREAS, (2) URBAN-RURAL DIFFERENCES IN ESTIMATED DROPOUT RATES FOR 16- AND 17-YEAR-OLDS LARGELY DISAPPEARED WHEN PARENTAL INCOME, EDUCATION, AND OCCUPATION CHARACTERISTICS WERE CONSIDERED, (3) MOST SCHOOL DROPOUTS HAD COMPLETED AT LEAST 9 YEARS OF SCHOOL, HOWEVER, SUBSTANTIAL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN WHITES AND NEGROES AND BETWEEN YOUTHS IN VARIOUS RESIDENTIAL CATEGORIES EXISTED IN THE PROPORTIONS OF DROPOUTS WITH SOME HIGH SCHOOL EDUCATION. ONLY 25 PERCENT OF NEGRO MALE DROPOUTS WHO WERE FARM RESIDENTS IN 1960 HAD COMPLETED AS MUCH AS 1 YEAR OF HIGH SCHOOL COMPARED WITH ABOUT 68 PERCENT OF WHITE MALES LIVING IN URBAN FRINGE AREAS, (4) THE PROPORTION OF SCHOOL DROPOUTS AMONG YOUTH 16 TO 24 YEARS OLD RANGED FROM OVER 40 PERCENT FOR NEGRO AND INDIAN YOUTHS TO LESS THAN 10 PERCENT FOR JAPENESE AND CHINESE YOUTHS. DROPOUT RATES FOR YOUTHS WHOSE PARENTS WERE BORN IN THE UNITED STATES, (5) SCHOOL DROPOUT RATES WERE DISPROPORTIONATELY HIGH AMONG FAMILIES WITH LOW INCOMES, FURTHER, SCHOOL DROPOUTS 18 TO 24 YEARS OLD WHO HAD FAMILIES OF THEIR OWN EARNED INCOMES SUBSTANTIALLY BELOW THOSE OF HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES, AND (6) FOR ALL MALES 25 TO 64 YEARS OF AGE, HIGHER INCOMES WERE DIRECTLY RELATED TO HIGHER LEVELS OF EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT. INCOME DIFFERENCES INCREASED WITH AGE, SO THAT THE EFFECT OF EDUCATION APPEARS TO BE CUMULATIVE.